What a great day to be selling cars....The weather has finally settled into a NICE pattern and the next 3-5 days should be great! for those of you new to the business and those of you who may have forgotten, other dealerships will send in people to shop your price and nothing else. No matter how hard you try to show them a vehicle or build value in the dealership and the brand, all they want is a price. They will actually send someone in under the guise of buying a car, only to start saying…

When you read a lot you come across a wide range of articles and information that raises an eyebrow and makes you say "hmmmmm".

Queue the music video




This is a short list of 7 Decisions made by Technology companies that make me say "Hmmmm." There will be more, and feel free to add your own. As a note, these are not in order of importance, and while the actual numbers or dates may be off -- the points are still the same. I'm blogging, not submitting a…

DeliveryMaxx has been the industry leader in creating innovative solutions to help Automotive Dealerships converting the one-time customer into a life-time customer.  

However, never one to rest on their laurels, DeliveryMaxx has made it possible for dealerships to talk to the world utilizing the most up-to-date technology.  Just imagine, a dealership customer leaves finance and gives a review talking about how great the experience has been in purchasing a…

Is your dealership looking for more customers in 2012?

The first question is how many of the people who walk into your service drive, showroom and virtual showroom are you aware of and more importantly how are you managing these customers. As I travel around north America and work with large and small dealerships I see the following problems over and over.

One: Most dealers don't have accurate numbers in the following "Basic Areas".

Floor…

Contagious!  PASS-IT-ON

It is impossible to restrain and if unleashed it will spread like “wild fire”! What am I talking about...? [Passion] or should I say Pass-it-on? It is contagious…it breeds…

For those of you who have had a tough day or two, fading the heat from one thing or the other, remember, you are in control of your situation. You can remain positive, even around people or situations that have a negative outcome. Stay in charge of your own situation. Be upbeat and move on form the negativity. If you are in a negative workplace and feel trapped, get out. There will always be dealerships looking for good people with skills. If you know you have skills, then speak up or change…

This is the continuation of the mini case study focused on the objectives and challenges of building a process to measure and manage OTDBs in the operating departments of an NCM client dealership group. Today I’ll be focusing on the vehicle sales departments in general.

The sales management staff had decided that OTDBs needed to be first divided into five major categories: (1) first-time walk-ins; (2) Internet leads; (3) blind phone inquiries; (4) proactive salesperson appointments;…

Over the last 15 years, NCM Associates has provided hundreds of educational programs that delivered unparalleled training to thousands of dealers, general managers and department managers. However, there is one area in which we have admittedly fallen short…focused leadership training. Up until now, our primary focus has been on the “nuts and bolts” of dealership management. However, the NCM Institute faculty members, as well as many of the dealership personnel that…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:  Laurie Halter

Charisma! Communications

Ph (503) 245-3140

Laurie@charismacommunications.com

ClearMechanic Launches “OpenTable for Car Repairs”

New solution helps service centers attract and provide…

Like any business going through growing pains we have had our share of people problem's. The very thing essential for getting any vision to f…

Auto retailers are some of the most creative and entrepreneurial organizations I know but sometimes a company can forget what made them successful.  Check out this slide show on Baseline.…

Automotive service and repair is a $215 billion a year industry.  Change is either an obstacle or an accelerant to getting your fair share.  Or rather, your response to change is the determining factor.  Change at the local level as well as global shifts may be out of your control, but you can respond and adapt.

Lay of the Land

The…

To those of you who need something to wake you up, always remember, you have to put the effort out if you want to be the best. You can't just talk about it, you have to do it! Being #1 isn't a sometimes thing!!! 

As we reach the mid year time, many of us make decisions.  Some even make commitments to change certain aspects of their life and their profession.  Unfortunately, far too many change absolutely nothing because they believe that their career is subject to the mercy of the markets.  They boast about how they were a top producer during the market high points, and continue doing the same things they did when customers simply showed up with checkbooks in hand.

     Case in point.  A good…

http://on.fb.me/oCXnLg

http://bit.ly/qOnbIb…

Sales Training:

Traditionally we train our salesmen to act on rather than act with the customer. Say the right lines, the the right word track, and the customer will buy. If the customer doesn't buy then we didn't say the

right thing. Right words, right outcome. I have been to numerous sales trainings over the years and usually it starts with loud music and a man yelling at the attendees trying to pump them up. Nothing wrong with building excitement and confidence, but the focus is…

I was visiting a dealership repair center recently, and while sitting in the customer lounge working on my laptop, I couldn’t help but identify with some of those “waiters”, who during my 30+ years in retail, I referred to them as just that…”waiters”. I watched and recognized emotions of restlessness, uncertainty,…

Attitude is a key factor in high sales performance.

Regardless of the number of years spent selling, or level of understanding one has in regards to sales techniques or strategies, without a strong conviction in oneself, the prospect's conviction in moving…